Water alone is, in many instances, a suitable fire suppressant for fires and is useful in many fire fighting situations. For example water, being readily available, is frequently the preferred choice of fire extinguishing material, particularly in extinguishing wildfires.
The ability of water to douse a fire is enhanced by the addition of fire retardants. The current the fire retardants for many bushfires/wild land fires throughout the world are phosphate retardants and foams mixed with water in a range of dosage mixture ratios.
Such products increase the extinguishing effect of water. However, the use of phosphate based retardants and foams are problematic for government authorities in that they have a detrimental ecological effect. Thus there is a global demand for environmentally friendly, non-toxic fire suppressants that perform as well as, or better than existing products.
As well as in wildfire situations water is used as a fire fighting medium in confined locations, for example in houses, planes and on boats. Boats and planes often have a water tank in which a water supply is connected to a distribution apparatus to ensure that, in the event of a fire a sprinkler system comes into operation to douse the fire. Because of the limited volume of water that is available for fire fighting in such environments it is important that the water is used as effectively as possible.
In other situations water is not suitable for use in fighting fires and other fire fighting materials are used. For example in electrical fires the use of water is generally regarded as very dangerous and is not recommended. In such fires a dry powder retardant may be recommended for use.
Unfortunately, a consequence of the use of both water and dry powder fire retardants in confined spaces can be a great deal of damage. Dry powder retardants typically work by smothering a fire thereby depriving the fire of oxygen. To achieve this a spray of very fine powder is spread over the area in question covering generally, not only the area in which the fire occurs but all around the fire area as well. This is difficult, time consuming and costly to clear away.
Accordingly, there is a need to find a fire retardant medium that is efficient whilst causing a minimum damage to the area in which the retardant in used.